Sheltered Ways
by Fire On The Roof
Summary: Based on the movie Dirty Dancing, complete summary in story.
1. Author's Note

                This story is based pretty much on the movie Dirty Dancing.  Some of the scenes are taken from the movie, others are not, but I'm sure that if you've seen the movie you will pretty much get the drift.  Some of the characters in the story are meant to be more like the characters in the movie, others are not, as I'm sure you'll see once you get into reading it. 

The WWE wrestlers are not wrestlers in this story, but will have different jobs to better set the scene.  Take Jeff Hardy example, he's a dancer.  Now, I'm sure most of you are shaking your heads at me for putting Jeff in such an odd predicament, but he fit the role.  Not my fault, I like Jeff and I wanted him to be the main character for the story.  If I wanted a story with Jeff Hardy as the main character, and for my story to be based around Dirty Dancer, guess who had to adapt to Jeff becoming a dancer? Me and you both.

I do not own the movie, the people in it, or the wrestlers of the WWE.  If I owed any of those things, I probably would not be sitting here right now.  I mean really, if I knew the wrestlers, why would I write fan fiction about them? And, if I owned them, why would I even waste my time writing about them when I had them all to myself? My point exactly.  I don't own anything, except maybe a few random characters here and there.  But, I do not own the plot of the story, either.  That's because if you base something off of a movie, you can't own it or have the rights to it.  I don't have either of those two things.  So, you get the drift.

Well, read and enjoy.  I love feedback, and constructive criticism.  Flames are accepted and expected I guess, but I'd rather not get them.  Then again, it's not up to me what people send in as 'feedback'.  I'll take whatever you guys and girls decide to throw at me.  Suggestions, comments, questions, everything will be read.  I promise.  And, I won't get mad if you say that my story sucks and that I don't know how to write.  Just read and review and I'll be happy.  Hell, just read it and I'll be happy.


	2. Chapter 1

                I sat in the back seat of my family's old Ford car, my arm propping my head up, and my elbow resting on my knee.  The tape of the oldies songs played over the car speakers, my father was humming along with the tunes in the driver's seat, and I secretly wanted to scream and shout the words out right along with the Temptations.  My older sister sat besides my, trying to fix her black hair, staring into her small compact mirror.  Oh how I loathed it when she fiddled with her gorgeous hair, she was as perfect as a human could possibly ever want to be, and she knew it.  

                "We almost there, Ma?" my sister questioned as she continued to look at her reflection in the compact mirror that seemed like it was now securely attached to her hand.  I wanted to snatch that thing from her hand and snap it closed in her face, but I was sure that would not be a very good idea.

                My mother turned in her chair slightly, and nodded in my sister's general direction.  "We'll be there in just a minute, Rory," she said evenly as she turned her head to my father, probably to see if she was actually telling my sister the truth.  My mother then proceeded to turn around the rest of the way and faced forward once again, which was probably the smartest thing for her to do at that moment.

                She hadn't lied, in fact a minute or so later my father pulled up in front of the main lobby building.  We all jumped out of the car, and I saw an older man saunter up to my father, a large smile spread across his face.  I knew right away that the man had to be Mr. McMahon, whom my father had done business with a few years back.  He owned the hotel, and I was sure that he had given my family a discounted price for everything that my father had done for him.

                "Mr. McMahon, very nice to see you again" my father said, shaking the man's hand and smiling slightly.  So, I had been right, it was the infamous Mr. McMahon.  Well, at least he was famous in our house, my father talked about him constantly to my mother.  

                Mr. McMahon shook his head slowly, laughing slightly for a moment before saying, "Now Kenny, you know better than that.  Call me Vince."  My father nodded and turned toward my mother, quickly putting his arm around her waist.  "Now, do introduce me to these lovely ladies that you brought with you."

                My father pointed to my mother first, "This is my wife, Roxanne," he started, he then proceeded to point to my sister, "this is Rory, my oldest daughter."  Finally, he turned to me, smiling slightly, before pointing at me for a second and ending with, "and this is Mari, my youngest daughter."  My father continued to smile as my sister and I took our rightful turns at shaking Mr. McMahon's outstretched hand.

                "Nice to finally meet you all, I'm sure that everyone here will make you feel at home during your stay with us" Vince said with a nod.  He snapped his fingers together, and out of nowhere a bellhop appeared, swiftly taking our bags away to our rooms.  "And this is my son, Shane, he's learning the ropes of how to run a hotel," suddenly, I noticed the young man standing next to Mr. McMahon, and I could tell that I wouldn't enjoy his company over the next three and a half weeks.  He looked like a he would be a pain, and that he'd most likely be a snob to everyone else around him.

                I decided it would probably be best if I tuned out the ongoing conversation between my father and Vince, and that's exactly what I did.  I blocked out the bunched up words, and turned around slowly.  For such an old hotel, the scenery was absolutely beautiful.  Green grass covered everything as far as the eye could see, trees dotted the area near the large buildings, and I could see tennis courts and swimming pools.  So, maybe this wouldn't be so bad, but who was to say that I would fully enjoy myself here? Definitely not me.

                As mom and dad followed Vince toward the dining room, Rory and I grabbed our card keys and raced down the halls of the ultimately huge hotel.  I would have never guessed that this place would have been so huge in a million years.  Mr. McMahon obviously had money to spend, and it showed everywhere in this place.  The walls were decorated with gorgeous paintings, all of the doors were dark cherry wood, and it seemed as if everything someone could want was all supplied.  Only the best for the best, right?

                Our room was simply amazing.  And that was a total understatement, to say the very least.  The beds were clad in the softest sheets and pillow cases that I had ever felt, and the comforters were plush and elegant.  The view was wonderful, looking over the largest golf field on the property, and there was even a balcony to sit on to watch the sunrise and sunset.  Even the bathroom was pretty, with its gold faucets and tiled floor.  All in all, Mr. McMahon hadn't lied when he promised that our room would be fit for a king. 

                Rory claimed the bed toward the door as her own as she had thrown her purse onto it within moments of arriving in the room.  But, I was glad that she hadn't taken the one next the balcony as her own, I wanted that one for myself.  I smiled as I dropped my purse onto the pillow and sat on the end of the bed slowly, trying not to mess up the blankets and sheets as they looked like the maid had just recently made the bed.  

                "It's a nice place," Rory said, her eyes scanning the room for anything that she could complain about.  But, it seemed like she hadn't found anything that she would have changed, because her eyes soon settled on me, "what do you think of it?" she asked with a smirk.

                I shrugged, "it seems alright, I like it" I replied as I kicked off my shoes and brought my legs up onto the bed, soon resting my head on the soft pillows.  I watched as Rory stood up and walked toward the door, "Where are you going?"

                Rory turned, the card key in her hand, "I want to look at the rest of place, you're welcome to come or you can just sit up here for the rest of the day" she said as she motioned to the door with her hand.  I stood, quickly slid my feet into my sneakers and rushed over to her, nearly tripping and falling flat on my face in the process.  But, I caught myself in time and opened the door quickly, Rory shook her head and walked out first, then I followed.

                As soon as we got out of the room, Rory seemed to want to get rid of me, so I didn't even bother trying to keep up with my older sister.  She could probably outrun me if she really wanted to anyway, so I picked my own pace and took the time to see the sights properly.  I stopped by the pools, all three of the indoor ones and one of the outdoor ones, and took a peek at two of the tennis courts.  Everything was orderly, tidy, and perfectly kept.  Did anything around here have a flaw?

                When I went to walk passed the now closed dining room, I heard Mr. McMahon's voice booming from inside.  His words that I overheard were stern, and I figured that there wouldn't be any harm in peeking into the room.  Besides, the door was open a crack, and I could easily see in, and it wouldn't be hurting anyone in the long run.

                So, I slipped toward the door, making sure that there wasn't anyone else in the hallway in the process, and focused in on the people in the room.  Mr. McMahon had everyone's attention, or at least somewhat, and I could see Shane nodding at his words beside him.  There were a few other young men in there as well, all seemed pretty well kept, but definitely not related to the McMahons.  I could tell that they weren't related to Vince because they looked so much different than he did, and they had more of a punk-rebel look to them.

                One of them had hair that nearly reached his shoulders, and it was even dyed to some extent, the color seemed purple.  He stood at least six feet tall, if not more, and was lean yet seemed very fit.  What could he possibly have to do with this place? He took off his black sunglasses, a smirk on his face, as he turned his head toward Mr. McMahon.

                "Listen boys, you got your own rules this time.  Dance with the daughters, teach them the mambo, the cha-cha, anything that they pay for.  And that's it, that's where it ends.  No funny business, no conversations, and keep your hands off" Mr. McMahon said, pointing his index finger right in the young man's face.  

                Shane piped up right after his father was done talking, "You think you can remember what you can and can't touch, Hardy?" he questioned with a small smile spreading over his face when Vince nodded toward him then began walking off slowly.

                The purple haired one, who I guessed had to be Jeff, nodded, his smirk never fading from his face.  "Sure thing, Mr. McMahon.  Oh, and Shane, you just stay in college and leave the hard stuff to me" he replied, adjusting his black leather jacket and walking out of the dining room, followed by the other young men that had been next to him.  I watched as he left through the side door, which connected the dining room to the outside world, and I quickly let out my breath.

                That Jeff character must have been one of the dancers; he didn't seem the type though.  I'd be sure to find out more about him as the weeks went on, if I was lucky.  I couldn't understand why Vince had threatened the entertainers so much in the dining room, but he'd mentioned something about dance lessons and doing things that were not appropriate, and definitely not paid for.

                I decided that I didn't have anything else to do, so I shoved my hands in my pockets and figured it would probably be best if I just headed back to the room.  But, then I remembered that Rory had taken her key with her when we split up, and I had left mine back in the room.  "Damn" I mumbled as I walked turned on my heel and began to make my way toward the front desk, maybe they could help me get back into my room where I could relax until dinner.


	3. Chapter 2

                After a talkative dinner, my family decided to head on over to the dance hall, where most people went to dance off their excellent dinner to tunes like the mambo.  It didn't seem like a bad idea, so I tagged along and decided that it would probably be pretty fun, at least I'd give it a go and see how it turned out.  Only problem was, it seemed like Shane wanted to be surgically attached to my hip, and he followed my around everywhere I went.

                Soon, I wanted to strangle the boy.  If not that, then at least escape to the bathroom before another song started up.  If it hadn't been for the space that was pretty much required to be between us, I swear I would have reached over and tried to kill Shane with my bare hands.  Thank God another song started, or I would have been forced to slam his head against the wall.

                "Mambo!" Shane exclaimed enthusiastically, grabbing my hands and pulling me back to the dance floor.  I knew that my dancing ability wasn't the greatest, but he had already stepped on my feet four times that night, and I really didn't think that my toes could take much more.  But, knowing that I didn't have much of a choice, I sucked it up and followed him toward the center of the floor.  I really didn't want to do this, yet I thought I probably would be on the dance floor for another few songs, so the mambo didn't seem that bad.

                Out of nowhere, two figures took the dance floor by storm, beginning a perfect mambo routine.  I recognized one of the people immediately, it was that Jeff person.  His purple hair was pulled tightly back into a low ponytail, and he was fully decked out in a black tuxedo, but if it wasn't for that purple hair I was positive that I wouldn't have known who he was.  The other person was a young woman with blonde hair, wearing a white dress that hardly reached her knees and puffed upward whenever she spun around.  I completely lost interest in dancing the mambo myself, as did most people on the floor, and focused my attention toward the dancing couple.

                Over to my right, I heard Shane snort slightly, but it didn't draw my attention toward him.  "Those are the dance people, Jeff Hardy and Torrie Wilson.  They're here to entertain the guests" he said, a rather disgusted tone to his voice.  "If they keep that up, they'll never sell the guests."  I wasn't completely paying attention to Shane, and I could tell that he finally realized that when he shut his mouth for the first time that evening.

                Suddenly, the two looked up and over to their left, then cut their dance short and walked over to two guests and merely began dancing with them.  I wondered why they had stopped, but I was pretty sure that it had something to do with what Shane had mentioned, what with entertaining the guests of the hotel.  I didn't take much notice, because Shane was trying to get me to continue the dance with him, but I was very reluctant.

                My mother and father danced their way on over to us, huge smiles on their faces.  I was glad that at least some people were having fun on their first night here.  I watched as they stopped at our sides and my father glanced down at me, "enjoying yourself?" he questioned with a smile.  Nodding slightly, I looked at floor, as I knew that if he saw the look in my eyes then he'd know that I was lying.  Well, it was somewhat true, I had enjoyed watching Jeff and Torrie show off their skills to the people, but I had silently wished that it didn't have to end.

                "Hey, my dad asked me to help out with the entertainment tonight, you want to help?" Shane asked with a grin.  Oh how I wanted to shake my head and go hide in the bedroom, but my dad spoke first, saying that I would love to help out.  I could have killed him that very moment, but I was pushed out of the room and toward the meeting hall too quickly to do so.  I'd get my father back before we went home in three and a half weeks, he could be sure of that.

                Before I knew it, I was looking out toward a crowd of a few hundred people.  Only problem, I was looking at them all sideways, as I was being 'chopped' in half for the so-called entertainment in a silly magic act.  I wondered why people couldn't see that this was entirely fake; did they really think that I was being cut right through my stomach? Oh well, I'd get out of this predicament soon enough, then I could get out of this stuffy room and outside.

                I didn't enjoy one second of being on that stage, but once I was of that huge room, I was a little better.  I decided to take a walk, since I didn't have anything better to do, so I ran up to the room and grabbed my jeans jacket out of the suitcase.  Quickly, I brushed down my hair for no reason, and I was out the door within seconds.

                As soon as I was out of the hotel, I took a wrong turn and was completely lost.  How could I get lost on the hotel property? I guess I had a really bad sense of direction.  But, somehow, I managed to find a small white bridge that led to a building, which seemed to shake with the beat of loud music.  I began walking over the bridge, and then I noticed that person in front of me.  He had been the guy that unloaded the car, I forgot his name though.

                He turned, as if he knew that I was there all of a sudden, and shook his head as he stopped.  "What are you doing here?" he asked, struggling with the cases of beer that he held in his arms.  I took two of the cases, noticing that he was having some trouble trying to balance all six of them.

                "I decided to take a walk" I replied quickly, gripping the cases in either hand and smiling in his direction slightly.

                He shook his head, "well go back" he replied quickly, turning to start walking toward the building once again.  I handed him the beer cases again, and right away I saw him try to grab them all at once.  "Can you keep a secret?" I turned and nodded, again took two of the cases of beers and began to follow him and the sound of the loud music.  "Your parents would kill you, Vince would kill me."

                We headed up some stairs, and soon reached the door that lead to where all this music was coming from.  It seemed like a big, secret party was going on in there, but I wanted to find out for myself.  "By the way, I'm Matt" he said as he leaned against the door and pushed it open with his back somewhat skillfully, but he did almost drop a case or two of the beer bottles.

                I looked inside as I slipped through the doors, seeing something that I didn't think I would.  People paired up in twos were grinding, swiveling their hips, and dancing as close as they could get in the crowded the room.  I was sure that I gasped slightly, or at least my breath caught in my throat as I followed Matt through the crowd of people.  I got a few stares from the couples, but they soon directed their attention back toward one another and completely forgot about the clumsy girl that held their beer.

                Matt was leaning against a table, where he had placed the four beer cases that he was left with, so I followed his lead and put the cases I had been carrying up on the table as well.  I looked over at him as he watched the dancing that was going on, actually I think that it would classify was dirty dancing.  I gazed at the couples, who seemed to be having a great time, as they looked like they didn't have another care in the world.

                Suddenly, the door was pushed open and Jeff and Torrie pranced into the room, immediately starting to dance to the song that blared over the speakers.  I watched intently, trying to take in every step that the two executed perfectly, but my mind jumbled up and soon I forgot the steps and decided it would probably best just to forget about it.

                "That's my brother, Jeff, he's the one that got me the job here.  And that's Torrie" Matt said loudly, so that I could hear him over the music.  I looked over at him, then back to Jeff, trying to find the family resemblance, if there was one to be found.  "Hard to tell that we're related, huh?"

                I nodded then looked at Jeff and Torrie once again, "they look good together" I replied quickly.

                Matt nodded in agreement, "yeah, you'd think they were a couple" he said with a small laugh.  I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, he then continued, "they haven't been a couple since we were kids." 

                I nodded slowly and didn't even realize that Jeff had walked over and was now staring at the side of my face strangely.  I got the feeling that someone was watching me, and turned to be met by the face of Jeff Hardy.  He was now holding a beer bottle in his hand, but his attention was quickly focused on his brother.  "What's she doing here?" he asked, confused as to why a guest would even be in this place to begin with.

                Matt looked over at me, his arms crossed and a smile on his face, "she came with me, man.  She came with me" he replied smoothly, then proceeded to grab two beers from the table behind him.  He extended one toward me, and I quickly decided that there wouldn't be any harm in one beer, so I took it.

                "Actually, I carried two cases of beer" I corrected, popping the beer bottle open with my thumb.  Jeff shrugged and was quickly back on the dance floor, moving from woman to woman and dancing with nearly everybody else's dance partner that was female.  I felt my face grow red as I finally realized what I had just said to that dancer, and felt the need to crawl under the table behind me.  I felt like an idiot, and I was sure that Matt could tell.

                All of a sudden, I saw Jeff motioning for me to walk over to him on the dance floor with his hand.  I quickly looked next to me and behind me, just to make sure that he really wanted me over there and not someone else that he actually knew.  He raised his eyebrows and nodded when I pointed to myself in question.  So, I figured there wouldn't be anything wrong with dancing with him, and I put down the beer bottle that I had yet to take a sip from.

                I was soon learning how to grind properly, and my arms had been placed around Jeff's neck.  It wasn't a bad situation; in fact I was enjoying myself.  But, the song ended quickly, and Jeff spun me around and was soon out of my sight.  I clapped along with everyone else, and tried to spot him over the other people's head.  That was out of the question, because he was nowhere in sight.  Oh well, the dance had been good while it lasted.


	4. Chapter 3

                The next morning, I sat at a long table, which was positioned on one of the hills, trying to apply some sort of makeup to my face.  Actually, I was just there because there was nothing better to do, plus my sister wanted to try it out.  In my opinion it was a stupid idea, and I was probably the youngest person there.   Over to my left, my sister seemed to be enjoying herself, but it figured that she would be.  She always liked stupid stuff like this.

                Suddenly, Rob Szatowski leaned against the back of my sister's chair, smiling down at the top of her head.  I knew she could see him from the mirror in front of her, and I saw the smile creep onto her face.  I didn't know how much I liked the guy, but I could tell that the two of them were probably already a couple.  "Hey beautiful" he said, his smile widening.  I wanted to roll my eyes at the two of them, but something else caught my attention.

                It was Jeff.  He was whispering a few words in Torrie's ear, and I say her nod slowly in reply.  He then turned to all of the women sitting at the table.  I wouldn't qualify myself as a woman, but he had my complete attention.  "Ladies you're looking very pretty today" he said with a slight smile before he turned back to Torrie.  I watched as Jeff said a few more mumbled words, kissed Torrie on her cheek, and walked out without another word.

                Secretly, I wondered if he had seen me trying to sneak a few glances in his direction.  I highly doubted that he did, he looked way too interested in what he had to tell Torrie to even notice me.  But, if he had noticed, I wondered if he even remembered who I was.  I doubted that, too, how many women had that guy had in the past week, let alone how many times he had danced with a guest? I didn't want to count all of them, ever.

                By now, Rob was long gone, probably off to the main house to earn his living in tips for the day.  I shrugged as I put the eye shadow I had been holding down on the table and began to take off the ridiculous makeup off of my face.  I knew I looked stupid with it all on, so I didn't even bother with it anymore.  I reached over and grabbed a tissue by my sister's hand.

                "Mari, do me a favor tonight and tell mommy and daddy that I had a terrible headache and had to go lay down, ok?" Rory questioned, continuing to make her cheeks pink with the blush in her hand.  I nodded quickly, hardly even listening to her.

                When Rory's words finally sunk in, I turned and looked at her, "where are you going?" I asked.  Yes, I was being a bit nosey, but she was my sister and she was asking me to do her a pretty big favor.  At least, it was a big favor in my family, my sister and I knew better than to lie to our parents because we knew that, somehow, they would find out.

                Rory shrugged, but then figured there wouldn't be any harm in telling me and said, "The pool, Rob says that there won't be anyone else there since most people will be at that big party.  No big deal."  She smiled slightly and titled her head to one side, observing her fair features in the mirror.  She really needed to stop being so concerned about her looks; the girl didn't know when enough was enough.

                I didn't reply, but instead I stood up and walked toward Torrie, who was at the head of the table.  I stood a few feet away from her, watching as she tried to pack up a black bag with the makeup that wasn't being used, since this event, if you would even call it that, would be ending in a few minutes.

                I walked a bit closer to her, rested my hands on the table, and asked, "So, you were really on Broadway?" I didn't know where I heard that piece of information, maybe from Vince, but it was the only thing I could come up with at the moment.  She nodded in reply, and I looked down at my hands.  "That's really great, I envy you."

                Torrie looked up at me, her face was flushed pink slightly, and her eyes burned with some type of passion that I couldn't quite put my finger on.  "Yeah, well I was kicked out of my house when I sixteen, besides dancing is the only thing I wanted to do" she stated as she threw another compact mirror into the bag.  I nearly jumped back a couple of steps when she snapped like that, but I figured she had a reason to.  So, I just nodded and walked away slowly.

                As soon as I was out of sight from the table, I sprinted across the huge green lawn, off toward the main building of the hotel.  There was that huge party that I had to get ready for, and I wanted to get as far away from possible as the other people staying at the hotel.  At the moment, I wasn't much of a people person, and I knew that if I talked to one more person before the party started, I would probably follow it up by ripping their head off.

                By seven that night, I was already outside, dancing with the annoying Shane McMahon.  I had only been down there for about half an hour, and he was already rubbing me the wrong way.  I was wearing a black skirt and a fancy black halter top, which meant my stomach was exposed to the soft summer's breeze, and I guess that was a bad idea.  First, I was getting quite the glare from my father, meaning I would be getting punished once our vacation was over, and it seemed that Shane liked it a bit too much.

                I pushed that thought aside, since it was making me want to run into the hotel and completely lose my lunch on the floor, and continued to try to focus on the song that was playing.  I thought it was the Cha-cha, but I could've been wrong, so I just decided to sway along with the beat.  There was no harm in that.

                Across the wooden floor, I noticed Jeff dancing with an older woman, who had curly auburn hair and blazing brown eyes, along with a figure that could kill.  I was absolute dirt compared to her, but I would never have to be compared to her, so I had no idea why the hell I was worrying about it.  That's when Shane decided we should go for a walk, I didn't even get a chance to agree or disagree because, before I knew it, I was being dragged toward the golf course.

                As Shane babbled on and on about some weird topic, I tried to focus on the area that surrounded me.  I knew that sooner or later I'd be off alone in this part of the hotel property, and that I would get completely lost if I didn't look around now.  I watched as the bushes to my left rustled, and I nearly jumped behind Shane, ready and willing to throw him forward if a bear popped out of those bushes.

                Instead, I noticed my sister walk out, looking utterly angry, and Rob followed her.  "That's right Rory, go cry to mommy and daddy" I heard him say, and he seemed pretty pissed off.  I could've sworn that Rory had said that they would be at the pool, but I did notice that her hair was wet, and she was holding a towel.  So, they must've been at the outdoor pool that was stationed somewhere around here.

                "I'm sorry you had to see that" Shane said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.  I had the urge to flip him over onto the ground and kick him, but instead just nodded slowly.  "You  hungry?" I nodded once again, and he began to usher me toward the kitchen that was used when the staff had a break so they wouldn't have to bombard the kitchen that cooked for the guests with orders of their own.

                Shane began digging through the huge refrigerator, "you can have anything you want," he said as he stuck his head into the refrigerator.  I nodded, turned on my heel, and looked around.  The place was pretty big, and it looked like we were the only ones in there since the only light that was on was the one that Shane turned on when we walked in.

                But, I could've sworn that I heard some whimpering coming from a corner near me.  So, I turned my head and peered around, then I took a few steps closer to the noise and tried to see through the darkness.  That's when I noticed Torrie, curled up in a ball, sobbing her eyes out.  I gasped and walked over to Shane, "I think I should go check on Rory," I said, trying to make up an excuse to get back to the party. 

                Shane nodded and we headed back to the makeshift party area, where I bolted over to Matt.  I whispered what I had seen in his ear, and quickly followed him toward Jeff.  I watched patiently as he pulled his brother away from the curly auburn haired woman, and hurriedly told him what was going on.  I watched Jeff's eyes grow wide as he jumped over the side of the gazebo that we were stationed in, and made his way toward the kitchen.

                I was instructed by Matt to follow them, which I did.  I didn't know if it was a good idea, but I did as I was asked and didn't bother to argue.  "Why is she here?" Jeff asked as he made his way to the kitchen, looking at Matt for a moment.

                "I asked her to come, just in case Shane decides to come back" Matt replied, pointing behind him toward the party that was still roaring on quite a few yards back.  Jeff shook his head as he quickened his pace, causing Matt and I to race to catch up with him.

                Suddenly, I became curious, "What's wrong with her?" I asked, my question was directed to Matt, since I knew that Jeff wouldn't even bother to answer me.  I was just a guest to him, and all of my questions were pretty much being thrown to the wind if I directed them at him.

                Matt turned to me quickly, "she's knocked up, Mari" he said with a bit of hesitation in his voice as he did so.

                "Jesus Christ, Matt!" Jeff exclaimed, and I could tell that he was pissed off now.  But, with the light that we had, I could see the concern and worry shining in his eyes, he was truly very scared.  I felt bad for him, honestly.

                I blinked in shock a few times, trying to rid myself of the snapping that Jeff had taken the liberty of dealing his brother only moments before.  "What's he going to do about it?" I asked Matt, trying to lower my voice a bit, as to not get Jeff angry with me again.

                Jeff turned to me, "oh, what's he going to do about it? So now it's mine, huh? Right away you think it's mine," he said, pushing open the door to the kitchen quickly.  I watched as he raced into the building, then I slipped in as well.  I watched as he jogged over to Torrie, knelt beside her, gathered her up in his strong and protective arms, and rubbed her back soothingly.

                "It's okay now, I'm here," he cooed, trying to calm the sobbing girl, who rested her head on his chest.  "I promise I'm never going to let anything happen to you," now I knew for sure that the tough Jeff Hardy did have a heart, and he would make sure that everyone he loved would be taken care of.  Now I knew that he was a protective young man, who would do anything to help those he held dear to his heart.  But, I also realized that he could easily snap at anytime, which didn't seem very welcoming to me.


End file.
